BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Finding a home for nuclear transfer

May 23, 2013 7:00 AM UTC

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have for the first time generated stable lines of human embryonic stem cells via somatic cell nuclear transfer.1 Whether the platform can carve a niche among existing stem cell-based techniques will hinge on how the cells compare with those generated through other approaches.

Generating embryonic stem cells (ESCs) via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) involves taking an unfertilized oocyte, removing its nucleus and then transplanting the nucleus of a somatic cell into the enucleated oocyte. The resulting cell is then activated and allowed to divide until a blastocyst is formed. ESCs are collected from this blastocyst and used to establish cell lines...